October School Highlights

Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences

·         The Academy for Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences held its 8^th grade Open House on October 22^nd.  Hundreds of students and their families had an opportunity to tour the school and hear presentations about the program and curriculum.  Current students assisted as tour guides for students as they became aware of all that the Woodbridge Campus has to offer.

 

·         The Academy celebrated Dwarfism Awareness Day on October 18^th. Announcements were made regarding dwarfism.  Students and staff were encouraged to wear green to show support for this cause.

 

·         The Woodbridge Campus celebrated Respect Week at the beginning of October. Students participated in poetry writing contest and began each day with respect quotes and facts. 

 

·         The Career Choices Program celebrated Respect Week with a poster contest. Additionally, upper classmen from the Academy presented to each class about good choices and how to demonstrate respectful behavior on our campus and at home.

 

·         The Woodbridge Township Police presented on making good decisions when faced with tough choices to the Career Choices Programs in the morning and afternoon on October 18^th.  Woodbridge Township Police Detectives Slossberg and Zeno passed along lots of important information which was well received by our eighth grade students. 

 

·         PSAT testing took place on October 19^th.  The “pre-SAT” allows students to experience and practice taking a college entrance test prior to actually beginning the college admis-sions process.  The test is also used as a qualifying exam for eleventh graders participa-ting in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

 

·         The Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department presented to the Academy students for school violence awareness.  Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office shared with students the responsi-bilities and dangers of social media.

 

·         The Woodbridge Campus held its first dance on October 28^th.  The junior class held a fall celebration with students from all grade levels dancing the night away. 

 

·         Seniors in Dr. Schrader’s Biomedical Innovations class designed emergency rooms and triage centers based on locales around the world.  Students worked in groups and were given a set of conditions. They then had to develop a triage center and emergency room (ER) that addressed the needs of the locale described. These locales ranged from a city setting, to jungle and desert.  Students then presented their ERs to the class for consid-eration.

 

Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies

·         The Edison Rotary recognized Avneet Randhawa and Stephanie Almeida as Students of the Month for October. They also honored Neehar Peri and Ayush Parikh for their out-standing community service.

 

·         All Academy 9^th, 10^th and 11^th grade students participated in the PSAT testing program on October 19^th. In addition to practice for the SAT, the test will be used as the basis for 11^th grade students qualifying for the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

 

·         The following military branches and colleges met with interested students this month to discuss admissions: Army, Navy, Cooper Union, Northeastern, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Johns Hopkins, University of Connecticut, Cal Tech, Rensselaer, Rutgers, Rose Hulman, NJIT and Vanderbilt.

 

·         To promote Violence Prevention Week, Chief Neil Brosnan, Chief of Police for Middlesex County College, discussed safety awareness with the entire staff and student body. Some of the topics included:  bullying, social media and driving and texting/using cell phones.

 

·         The Academy’s Interact Club participated in The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Raritan Center on October 9^th.  The following students attended: Khushi Gandhi, Zach Acosta, Sudheshna Vemula, Nicole Salazar, Ariana Novo, Jessica Hernandez, Christine Mathews, Riya Agarwal, Anjali Bothra, Maya Pandurangan, Swathi Parthibha, and Ryan Shah.

 

·         The senior class (Class of 2017) hosted the annual Halloween Dance at the Academy on October 21^st.

 

·         Juniors, Malavika Vivek and Anjali Gupta were among more than 400 semi-finalists named across the United States in this year’s prestigious Siemens Competition, the nation’s pre-mier competition in math, science and technology for high school students.  Malavika and Anjali were selected from more than 1600 students who submitted innovative individual and team research projects. They were mentored by Dr. Jonathan Spergel of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. 

 

·         Ten Academy students represented the school in the Central Jersey Math League (CJML) meet held at Edison High School.  The team placed third.  Twenty-seven Central Jersey schools participated in this event.  The following students contributed to the success:  seniors, Mohammed Mannan, Akshat Gokhale, Rohan Agarwal, Amrut Nagir and Kush Singh; junior Jonathan Wong; sophomores Glenn Sun, Spencer NG and Kevin Tang; and freshman Sean Wang.

 

·         Thirty-nine Academy students competed in the “Who Wants to be a Mathematician?” Contest sponsored by AMS (American Mathematical Society). The following seven students passed round one and are eligible for round two: seniors, Akshat Gokhale, Rohan Agarwal, Amrut Nagir and Pratik Mishra; juniors Kunal Adhia and Poojit Hegde; and freshman Pramod Mitikiri.

 

·         More than fifty Academy students participate in the AMC Interstellar matches each week.

 

East Brunswick Campus 

·         East Brunswick Campus hosted a financial aid workshop for parents on October 11^th. The information session was conducted by the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA). The workshop equipped parents with necessary information on how to apply for financial aid for students who want to attend college after graduation. The night was well attended

 

·         The East Brunswick varsity soccer team clinched the GMC Gold Division championships for the second year in a row. They went 11-4-1 and had a remarkable season.

 

·         Ms. Cleo Mack presented at the National Dance Education Organization’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. October 6^th - 9^th.  Ms. Mack presentation: Individualizing Optimal Alignment for Embodied Performance and Longevity in Dance was well-received by all who attended. Ms. Mack spent time working with other dance educators in secondary and post-secondary education to align dance standards nationally.

 

·         The staff at EB Tech held a professional development session on understanding transgen-dered students as the concluding activity during the week of respect. Alex Redcay, LCSW, PhD, presented to the staff about the rights transgendered students have and how to address transgender student issues that may come up. The staff was extremely receptive and gained great knowledge of this important subject matter.

 

·         The School of the Arts conducted an Arts Immersion Rotation where each of the programs in the school of the arts had students rotate through each career major. Graphic Design: Commercial Art & Illustration, Multi-Media Arts and Design, Digital Film, Theatre and Dance all had their students spend time in each of the other arts programs. All of the students benefitted from this cross-curricular training.

 

·         Multi-Media Arts and Design instructor Joseph Tiedemann led a class trip to the Metropol-itan Museum of Art in New York City. The students spent time admiring classic paintings, sculptures, and other renowned works of art.

 

East Brunswick School of Career Development

·         Mrs. Hughes’ senior U.S. History II classes have been studying the electoral process. Stu-dents first learned how the Electoral College works. Then the students looked at the four major political party’s platforms and their candidates - the Democratic Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Republican Party. The students charted their findings and then presented them to the class. Their goal is to learn how to make an informed decision before they vote for a candidate.

 

·         DECA began its new season with their recruitment day on September 20^th.  This year’s DECA chapter includes twenty-three students - the largest group in recent memory.  The students are learning how to interview, dress like a professional and role play different business scenarios.  Their goal this year is to compete in the Regional and State DECA Competitions held beginning in January.

 

·         Ms. Betancourt’s Spanish classes participated in cultural lessons in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Spanish I students were responsible for researching a Spanish speaking country and gathering different information to present to the class. They learned how to use technology for research and “Social Studies” in Spanish-speaking countries. Spanish II students picked a famous Latin American person to research and present (in Spanish) different facts about that person to the class. Students had to also include why they picked that person and report on contributions to the world from this famous person. Google Classroom was used to aid in this process. 

 

·         Mr. Levine's 10^th grade World History students took turns at being inventors last week as the class took part in a “Shark Tank” style project while studying the Renaissance. Similar to Leonardo da Vinci, students invented various products, and then were tasked to outline the product, illustrate it and present it to the class of "investors." Students created every-thing from a portable scuba tank called the "BreathO MachineO" to a device that allows you to modify the iPhone 7 so people can listen to music on headphones. One group took it upon themselves to invent the iPhone 100, with the phone having capability to make grilled cheese as well as dispense soda. Some of the investors in class felt this product was not believable and would not work, but Mr. Levine reminded them that people said the same thing about many of Da Vinci's inventions during the Renaissance period. There-fore when a new smart phone comes out that makes grilled cheese and dispenses soda; remember where you heard of it first.

 

·         Dr. Menell and Ms. Thomas-Floyd's classes traveled to Philadelphia to experience historic and business sites in Philadelphia.  Students visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House, Carpenter's Hall and the U.S. Mint. 

 

·         Dr. Menell and Mr. Yurkiw's classes experienced the presidential debates live in the class-room on a simulated debate stage. Student volunteers dressed up as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and recited real lines from all three presidential debates. Student audience members had the opportunity to ask the "candidates" their own questions. 

 

Perth Amboy Campus

·         The Perth Amboy Campus was visited by Officer Henry Rogers from the Perth Amboy Police who gave a presentation to our 9^th grade students about the consequences of “sexting” and “cyber-bullying.”

 

·         The Perth Amboy Campus hosted a luncheon with the Woodbridge Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Zega, Assistant Superintendent John Bader and Colonia High School Principal Kenneth Pace to discuss a potential partnership with our school involving an increase in our shared-time students from Woodbridge.

 

·         The Perth Amboy Campus Green Team sponsored a campus clean-up day to beautify the school grounds.

 

·         Mr. Rand’s HVAC/R students hosted a guest from the Aggreko Company to discuss their apprenticeship and college program where graduates work in the field while attending Oklahoma State University.

 

·         Mr. Hamill’s CADD students hosted a guest from Kean University to discuss the new archi-tecture program at Kean.

 

·         The Perth Amboy Campus held an assembly featuring Gabe Hurley to talk to students about making good choices in life and the consequences of reckless behavior by sharing his life experiences with students. Gabe Hurley was badly injured in a car accident. He lost his sight and deficits in three of the four remaining senses. Gabe travels throughout New Jersey sharing his story and warning young drivers about the dangers of reckless and distracted driving.

 

·         Perth Amboy Police Officer Rick Zaleski introduced the “Police and Teens Together” (PATT) program to our students. The PATT program is an interactive program that is conducted over several sessions to teach students how to properly interact with the police in a positive manner.

 

Piscataway Campus/Piscataway School of Career Development

·         Seniors in Computer Applications for Business class made Halloween cards and treat bags for a deployed Naval platoon in Bahrain. This project lets our troops know that Americans are standing behind them. The group brought in hard candies, cheese and crackers for the troops to enjoy for Halloween.

 

·         All 9^th graders participated in a Respect and Bullying presentation by Student Assistance Coordinator Ms. Goldstein in English classes during the week of Respect (October 3^rd-7^th).

 

·         The Middlesex County Sheriff's Department presented to the 9^th and 10^th grade students on Cyberbullying and Internet Safety during Violence Awareness week.

 

·         11^th graders participated in a presentation on respect from Officer Hakeem Abdullah, of the Piscataway Police Department on October 19^th.

 

·         Gabe Hurley presented to 12^th graders on violence prevention, living life to its fullest, and making better choices on October 21^st.

 

·         Suja Pavithran and Anthony Giudice from Huntington Learning Center presented to all grade levels discussing the importance of the SAT and ACT and their differences on September 21^st and 22^nd.

 

·         Victor Sbailo from Wells Fargo presented a workshop to parents and students on October 13^th. The presentation provided useful information on financial planning for college, scholarships, FAFSA, HESAA, grants, and loans.

 

·         Dionne L. Hallback, Associate Director from the Office of Student Financial Assistance at The College of New Jersey provided a short presentation and worked with seniors and their parents on their FAFSA applications on October 19^th.

 

·         Piscataway Campus hosted representatives from colleges and military branches on Octo-ber 27^th. Representatives distributed information to students and parents about their institutions and application processes.

 

·         Piscataway Career Development students visited the Statue of Liberty on October 18^th. The New York City skyline was viewed with awe during the ferry ride. Students arrived at the Immigration Museum to travel the halls simulating what immigrants did upon their arrival to America in the late 1800’s. After touring the museum, the students enjoyed lunch outside and browsed in the gift shop. Students next boarded the ferry to circle the impressive Statue of Liberty before returning to Liberty State Park.